Mrs. Irene Granchi, APRO Field Investigator in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has forwarded the following details of her investigation of a series of sensational incidents at the Barragem do Funil, a power plant of the Furna [sic-Furnas] Electric Center at ltatiaia, in the state of Rio:

Almiro Martins De Freitas, 31, is married, has three children and is considered honest and dependable, He is employed as a patrol guard at the power plant and dam, which is considered a National Security location and therefore employees are carefully investigated and screened.

On the night of Sunday, August 30 at 9:45 p.m., De Freitas was at his usual post in the powerhouse near the precipice of the dam when he saw a row of at least fifteen blue and yellow lights, and the beauty of the blue color impressed him very much. They appeared to come from apertures or "portholes" of elliptical shape and about a meter (40 inches) across.

After leaving the powerhouse he heard an explosion and the lights went off for a few seconds, and it was then that he saw the object at a distance of about 50-60 meters (165-200 feet). He crawled along the dam closer to the object, finally arriving at a point approximately 15 meters (50 feet) from the object. The form behind the lights was a rectangle, much like a "flying wing."

His first reaction was one of fear and he wanted to flee, but the object was over the dam and he remembered that if the dam broke, four towns and thousands of lives would be lost, so he kept on toward the object.

Then he drew his gun and fired a shot at the object, and the lights on it grew brighter and a noise like that of a tubine [sic] of a jet plane filled the air. He fired another round from his 38 double barrel.

At this time a bluish-silver ray shot out of the object (he couldn't determine the exact spot from which it issued—but it was either from under or to the side of the "portholes") and he felt great heat on his body and a feeling of prickling like "pins and needles." He closed his eyes and when he opened them later he could no longer see.1

Subsequent questioning of De Freitas disclosed the following: The lights on the object dimmed and brightened alternately in this manner: yellow, nearly white, scintillating blue, yellow, orangey, yellow, blue, and so on.

Other guards in the area also viewed the object and said De Freitas fired a third shot, screaming: "Don't look! Watch Out! The flash has blinded me!" All three bullets were heard as they ricocheted from something. When the others reached him, De Freitas could not move and they had difficulty getting him into the car to take him to the hospital.

Within fourteen days of the incident, after many tests and hypnotic questioning and treatment, De Freitas regained his sight. Prior to the hypnotic treatment De Freitas had had difficulty resting; afterward he slept and ate well and seemed rested and relaxed.

Mrs. Granchi succeeded in interviewing the doctor (Dr. Orlandino Fonseca) who treated Almiro and who diagnosed the blindness as psychosomatic but nevertheless caused by a real experience. While at the Red Cross Hospital where he was ultimately taken after initial examination at the Aeronautics Hospital, Almiro was in the hands of security authorities and in isolation.

Other items of interest which are related to the Almiro Martins De Freitas case are the following:

At the point where the object allegedly hovered, which was newly poured and wet cement (and it had been raining heavily), the concrete had hardened and all around this area was a dry circle. Several days later the concrete at this spot was not only powdery but holes were evident.

The Ministry of Aeronautics announced on September 4, five days after the occurrence, that the case was under investigation and the results would ultimately be made public.

The area is under security guard and the cement where the object hovered is still rippled and cracked.

Almiro Martins De Freitas received a questionnaire from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.) which was being completed by military authorities in Brazil. De Feitas was also personally closely questioned by the Brazilian Minister of War.

There were other UFO sightings in the area of Itatiaia, among which are the following:

A milk truck driver, Jose Norberto de Lima, who carries milk from dairies in Rezende and ltatiaia to Cruzeiro, Sao Paulo, has seen the apparition as described by De Freitas and the guards at Barragem do Funil so often that he has seriously considered quitting his job because of the ridicule which may result from making his experiences public.

Guards at Barragem have seen the object since De Freitas' experience and are literally in a state of panic.

On the third of September, an object sporting "incandescent lights” approached the PAJEU Radio antenna emitting pink, blue, and red lights, and during its presence the station was off the air for a few moments. The tower controller had the presence of mind to turn the tower light off and on several times, whereupon the UFO left abruptly toward Pica de Carapuca, 12 kilometers away, where it was watched together with two other UFOs flying about the sky, by nearly all the residents of the town.

During the same time a country woman in Belo Horizonte State reported she had been chased by a UFO which gave off great heat on her back. It looked like a bluish-white lamp at about 50 meters distance (165 feet). As she ran from it, it rose into the air, changed color from bluish to orange. It followed her at a distance of 20 meters (65-70 feet) and finally disappeared. Two hours later the lady suffered a severe headache, visual disturbance, and burns on her back.

On September 5th four guards at the Funil dam saw a UFO emitting lights at the same place where Almiro Martins De Freitas had his experience. Guards have been reinforced at the installation and have been instructed not to shoot at the UFO.

A subsequent sighting on September 6 by six guards at the Funil dam was of an object with red, yellow and green lights. It was observed while flying from mountain peak to mountain peak, lights fluctuating, and finally apparently landing beyond a river in the distance. Through his binoculars, Jose Antonio Silva discovered the shape of a squarish object much like a wingless aircraft.